


twist & turn (scream & shout)

by misura



Category: Demonata Series - Darren Shan
Genre: Multi, POV First Person, Post-Canon, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23264059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Grubbs picks the wrong game to play.
Relationships: Bec/Kernel Fleck/Grubbs Grady/Lord Loss
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	twist & turn (scream & shout)

"Comfortable, Grubitsch?" Lord Loss asks, his tone sad.

"Absolutely." Not! Two of his arms are wrapped around my chest, another one is around my left leg and I don't even want to think about where the fourth one is.

"I'm fine, too, in case anyone was wondering," Kernel says. Kernel's got it easy. He only needs to worry about his own two arms. "Come on, Bec."

"Come on, Grubitsch," Lord Loss whispers, soft enough that I'm the only one who can hear him. "You feel it, don't you? You can't keep this up much longer. You're tired. Your muscles are aching."

Aching to slap his face, yeah! I grit my teeth. Bec is going to save me. Any moment now. Any. Moment. Now.

Lord Loss's fourth arm decides to get frisky. What's keeping Bec? If she would just -

"Right hand on blue!" About time! I look around frantically. Where are those damn blue circles? There! I reach out, only for Lord Loss to beat me to it. Argh! Now were am I going to put my hand?

"Ten seconds!" Bec calls out.

If only I'd been quicker! Which I would have been, if Lord Loss hadn't cheated. This whole mess is his fault!

"Now, Grubitsch, don't be a sore loser," Lord Loss sighs. "There's no shame in admitting defeat."

The hell there isn't! Against him? I'd rather die. I grit my teeth and slap my hand down on an empty blue circle. _Now_ my muscles are aching.

Happily, Bec's spinning again already, so with a bit of luck, my suffering will be brief. I spend the time reflecting on my recent mistakes. Or mistake, rather, because I'm pretty sure there's only one.

Suggesting we play Twister for game night with Lord Loss was not my best idea. Simple. Easy enough to avoid in the future. Too bad this realization doesn't help me one bit in the present!

"Left foot red!"

I'm ready this time. I'm even quicker than Kernel, who's left with his left foot hanging in the air. Lord Loss smoothly puts down one of his arms. Given that he has no legs, I figured he'd be disqualified the moment we needed to put down a foot but no. Bec ruled that for Lord Loss, a hand's as good as a foot.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but still. Her blatant favoritism stings.

"Ten seconds!" Poor Kernel's in the same position I was in last round, except that he doesn't have several of Lord Loss's arms wrapped around him.

I want to tell him that I've got this. No worries, Grubbs Grady, superhero is on the job! Except that in my heart of hearts, I'm not sure that I can beat Lord Loss. Not if he's got Bec on his side. The best I can hope for might be a draw. After all, as wrapped around me as he is, if I go down, he goes down, too.

Not ideal, but hey, at least it's better than losing!

"Five!" Bec's voice gives away nothing. Is she hoping for Kernel to make it? Does she want Lord Loss to emerge victorious? Do I even stand a chance? Who knows? "Four! Three! Two!"

"I give up!" Kernel falls to the floor. "This game's stupid, anyway."

Ha! Who's a sore loser now? Not me! 

Lord Loss sighs mournfully. "Looks like it's just you and me now, Grubitsch."

"Good. Just the way I like it!" I grin.

"Don't like to share?" Lord Loss moans. "And here I thought the three of you were the best of friends."

"We are," I say quickly. It's true! Against Lord Loss, we are firm allies. A game of Twister isn't going to change that. "Don't twist my words!"

"Of course not," Lord Loss says, his voice sympathetic. "Still, you must know it's hopeless."

Maybe I should end things right here and now, before Lord Loss catches on to my plan. He might. I don't know whether it's because he's carried Bec's piece of the Kah-Gash or whether it's for some other reason, but sometimes, it's almost like he can read my mind.

His arms sure seem to have a sixth sense for figuring out where to go. Most of the time, I'm all right with it. And then some! But times like this one, I wish I could be sure my thoughts are private.

"Hang in there, Grubbs!" Kernel yells from the sideline. He's standing next to Bec. No monkey business now! Not that I really suspect Bec of trying to pull anything. She's soft on Lord Loss, sure, that's why he's here in the first place, but not that soft.

"Left hand green!"

I'm slow this time. Lord Loss takes all of his arms that were wrapped around me and puts them down on all four green circles that were still free. Lame! And against the rules, so I'm pretty sure that means I've won.

Kernel and Bec hold a whispered conversation. Neither of them has ever played Twister before today. Bec still hasn't. Still, the rules are crystal clear. Aren't they? Bec's memory created the rule book, so they must be. Somewhere in there, it must say that Lord Loss has lost.

"Nothing to say, Grubitsch?" Lord Loss sighs.

"I'll happily leave it to Bec." I smirk, trying to look and sound confident. If she doesn't - that would suck! Not so much the losing, though I'm sure not wild about that, either. But losing because Bec got the rules wrong? That would be the worst!

Lord Loss wriggles a bit. I realize he's picked up on my emotions, my preemptive misery. Sure, it's not much compared to someone watching his best friend slowly bleed to death or someone getting tortured for the hundredth time while knowing they have nothing but the same to look forwards to, but I guess that after millions of years of nothing, Lord Loss can't afford to be picky.

The only people around are the three of us, and he can't harm us. Touch us, sure! He's doing plenty of that, and we're happy to let him. But even Bec won't let herself be miserable for him. She's too busy rebuilding the universe. We all are.

Game night is an indulgence. A much-needed break. A few hours to get together and be ourselves again.

Kernel and Bec start arguing. Not loudly enough to hear their exact words, but it's clear they disagree. I can't believe this! Are they complete idiots? And after I told Lord Loss what good friends we all were!

"Trouble in paradise?" Lord Loss smirks.

I begin to feel miserable in earnest. My body's still holding a shape it would prefer not to, and without Lord Loss's arms distracting me, I don't have much to take my mind off it.

Then Bec looks at me and winks. Tricked! I suspect she did it for Lord Loss, a small treat to be sure he keeps coming back and be a good sport about losing. Oh well. I'm too relieved to mind.

Kernel jumping on top of me is a different thing. I go down, and then Bec jumps in as well, and we're suddenly no longer on a hard floor but on something soft and comfortable. We're also pretty naked.

"Could've played Twitter like this," Kernel comments.

"Twister," I correct him. Lord Loss sighs sadly. Feeding time's over!

Fun time's just beginning, though, and a guy with eight hands and the knowledge of how to use them - well! Let's say I'm willing to put up with a lot from a guy like that!

As long as he doesn't kill my parents and my sister again, I might even admit that I've gotten sort of used to having him around.


End file.
